I’ve been corresponding with Randall Stone regarding the outstanding debt owed to the taxpayers of Chico by the Chico Creek Nature Center. Stone and Mark Sorensen both sent me Nature Center Form 990’s when I requested them from the Nature Center director and she said I’d have to come down to the center and pick them up, it was too onerous a burden for her to send me this information that she had told me days previous was available to the public and she’d e-mail it to me.

Randall and Brian Nakamura are pushing for “forgiveness” of $206,000+, consisting of a $181,000 loan and the interest and fees that have accrued over the last few years of NO PAYMENT. Both of these guys, who’ve never had a child attend the center’s daycare program, say the center provides wonderful services for the city and people of Chico.

It was good of Randall to send me the Form 990 filed by the Nature Center – “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.” Wow, a daycare operation that pays no income tax? In this town? They try to say they don’t make any profit, only bringing in about $136,000 a year. $47,000 of that comes from a city grant. They expect us to believe they only bring in $80,000/ year from that daycare camp they run four months a year?

When my kids attended, the fees were double what you’d pay for a regular daycare operation. People were willing to pay, because it’s in the city park. On city owned land. In a city-owned building, and another building that should be owned by the city. CCNC and friends spent about $800,000 on that Taj Majal, $186,000 came from the city of Chico. It came out of the development fund, which is now millions in arrears.

Sure, they’ve coughed up their 990, but there’s no accounting or paperwork for their daycare operation. I’d say, if they’re not lying about their revenues from that operation, they are incompetent. Who runs a daycare operation in this town without a profit?

That’s why I tried to suggest we find somebody else to run this thing. It could be great, it was wonderful under the first director, a woman named Stephanie. Since then we are expected to put up with people like Tom Haithcock, who had no credentials for running a kids’ day camp, and now this Caitlin woman who can’t even send me an attachment to an e-mail.

When I tried to make that suggestion, Sorensen cut me off before my three minutes was up, and yelled at me that I was off topic. When I tried to tell him why it was on topic, he yelled, “That’s enough!”

Only a year previous, but revenues are more than double 2012? They’ve lost some grant money, including city CBGF money, but not that much. What’s to explain for this sudden loss in revenues? I’ll opine, BOOK COOKING. They knew the city would be coming after that loan money, so they’ve hidden their revenues, is what I’m guessing.

Nakamura seems to be saying, “we’re not going to get this money, so let’s make hay by writing it off…” I don’t think he’s telling us everything.

My mom used to have this little sign over her desk – “I am a mushroom. They keep me in the dark and feed me bullshit.”